Love
by DancingRaindrops
Summary: -"Wow," breathes Chad softly, unable to entirely contain his appreciation of the breathtaking sight before him.- For Anna's contest. Dedicated to the amazing Carma.


A/N: This is my entry for Anna's (**FrostyNights**) contest. :D I'll leave a nice long note at the bottom, so just enjoy this for now. ;) It's bits of Chad and Sonny's life together based on some quotes. :D Hope you like it! This is dedicated to my dear Carma (whom I refuse to call **Arie Jay** :P), for being one of my very first FF friends and one of the most wonderful people I've ever met, virtually or otherwise. I love you, Carma! :)

**Love**

_"Love builds bridges where there are none." -R.H. Delaney_

"Sonny, we will never - "

"Ever!"

" - accept you dating - "

"Ugh!"

" - Chad - "

"_Chad_? You had to pick _him_?"

" - Dylan Cooper!" Sonny sighs, looking at all four of her castmates and their displeased expressions.

"Look, I know you guys don't like Chad - "

"Understatement!" singsong Nico and Grady together, high fiving as they speak in unison.

" - but I know that you can get along," Sonny finishes, her eyes pleading with them. Tawni wrinkles her nose in disgust as Zora simply looks up at her with unforgiving eyes.

"Not happening," she says between clenched teeth.

"You can _try_ to get along," amends Sonny, smiling hopefully.

"Try?" Nico repeats in disbelief. "We can't _try_ to get along with him. He made us pay for your date!"

"Nico." Sonny gives him a reproving look before throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "Fine. If you guys won't try to be nice, then fine."

Her costars nod, seemingly finding this arrangement the most suitable to their preferences.

"Sonny, Sonny, what did they say?" ask Chad, bursting into the room with an excited countenance. He takes one look at her face and understands. "Ah. I see."

Without another word, he wraps his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, showing his solidarity.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really," Sonny answers truthfully. "I mean…it's like they don't want us to be happy." She gestures incoherently to her guilty-looking castmates, who shuffle their feet and look at the floor as Chad's eyes flicker up to theirs.

"It's okay, Sonny. It'll be alright," he soothes awkwardly, unsure of what to say. While he and Sonny are thus absorbed, Tawni shoots a glance at Nico, who turns to Grady and shrugs. Grady nods, tapping Zora on the shoulder and receiving a glare in return.

"Uh…it's almost unaminous," Grady announces, stumbling over the word. "Unaminous. Umaninous. Unaminimous. U-"

"Unanimous," Nico, Tawni, and Zora chorus together.

"And no, it is not unanimous," adds Zora, crossing her arms indignantly.

"Well…the rest of us think…" Tawni grimaces slightly as a smile begins to creep onto Sonny's face. "I mean, I guess…it could be okay if you dated Chad."

"_What?" _exclaims Zora as a grin bursts forth on Sonny's face.

"Thank you! You won't regret it. Right, Chad?" She turns to him excitedly, and he can't help but smile back.

"Of course not," he agrees, his hand around her waist now. Sonny reaches up and gives him a quick hug, and it's suddenly like he's five years old again and being kissed on the cheek for the first time.

"That doesn't mean you can go around hugging all the time!" Zora frowns, but everyone can tell she's slowly warming to the idea.

"Right," Sonny affirms, slipping her arm through Chad's and pulling him forward. "Now, everybody, this is my boyfriend, Chad Dylan Cooper."

All four of them gasp simultaneously, sending Sonny into a fit of giggles that bewilders Chad completely.

"You'll get used to it," she assures him, beaming.

And even though a witty retort is on the tip of his tongue, he bites it back for the time being. Because if it means that this brilliant smile is for him, he'll get used to anything.

* * *

_"Love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart." -Kay Knudsen_

"I miss you, sunshine," he says softly, his voice carrying all the emotions that he can't tell her himself.

"I know. I miss you too." Tears begin to well up in Sonny's eyes as she looks out the car window, watching happy couples stroll by as she clutches the cell phone to her ear. "When do you think you'll be back?"

"Whenever this movie is done. I'm trying to speed it up, but you know how these directors are." Chad sighs on the other end, wishing he was back at home in Hollywood instead of being in a trailer (a very comfortable trailer, but still a trailer nonetheless), shooting scenes on location.

"Right. It's okay, Chad, I understand," Sonny tells him sincerely, blinking back the tears and smiling bravely. "It won't be too long. We'll be fine."

"Of course we will," he agrees wholeheartedly. "I love you, Sonny."

"I love you too, Chad," she whispers back, feeling the same glow inside as she always does when he mentions the L-word. Sounds of someone banging on the door and yelling "You got one minute, Cooper!" manage to make their way through the phone, startling Sonny.

"I have to go, sunshine." Chad opens the door of his trailer and begins to walk toward the scene, the crunch of multi-colored leaves under his shoes unfamiliar and leaving him longing for the boring concrete of Los Angeles.

"I know. I'll talk to you later." Sonny grins, knowing that he'll be able to hear it in her voice. "Love you."

"I know," Chad imitates, smirking as he does so. "How could you not? After all, I'm Chad Dylan - "

"Cooper," completes Sonny, shaking her head ruefully. "I know. Now go film your movie, Mr. Chad Dylan Cooper, so you can hurry back."

"Alright," he agrees, chuckling. "Love you. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You'd better!" teases Sonny. "Bye."

"Bye, sunshine." The line goes dead, but Sonny doesn't seem to mind as much as she did a few minutes ago. Looking out the window once more, she sees a dark-haired girl stand on her tiptoes to reach the lips of a boy with blue eyes and a smile that girls would die for. Though it looks like them from a distance, it's not her and Chad.

But it will be soon. And that's enough for Sonny for now.

* * *

_"Soulmates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you." -Anonymous_

"Chad, why did you do this?" Sonny waves the latest issue of Hollywood's hottest, most reliable gossip magazine in Chad's face, frowning at the section of the cover that promises an "Exclusive Interview with Chad Dylan Cooper!"

"I didn't do anything!" protests Chad, reaching out to grab the magazine and missing, his hand grasping only air instead.

"Of course you didn't," Sonny agrees sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't!"

"God, Chad, when will you ever learn?" She sighs exasperatedly, her usual smile gone.

"Learn _what_?" Chad lunges for the magazine one more time, trying to understand what Sonny's irritated with him for.

"Learn that sometimes, it's not all about Chad, okay?" argues Sonny, the corners of her mouth tucked into a frown. Chad's jaw drops indignantly, startled and somewhat offended that Sonny still thinks that he acts in the self-centered way he did four years ago.

"It's _not _all about Chad! Ever since we started dating, it's been all about Sonny and how to keep this relationship going," Chad points out, stepping closer to her both in an attempt to intensify the argument and to find himself in a better position to steal the magazine out of her hands.

"Oh, so in the interest of keeping this relationship going, you decided to tell _People_ magazine that I fight with you at least once a week?" Sonny asked incredulously, flipping the pages of the magazine to find the article.

"You do!" Chad looked bewildered, while Sonny shook her head immediately.

"Not true!" Chad furrowed his eyebrows, confused, as Sonny scanned the article quickly. "And then you said that I can't cook?"

"I saw that chicken you tried to make for Tawni's date with Kiss Cam guy awhile ago, Sonny," defended Chad, holding his hands up. "I've never seen you try to cook since. I mean, they asked me about your cooking! I had to tell them the little that I knew!"

"I can cook just fine, I'll tell you that, Mr. Chad Dylan Cooper." Sonny enunciates every syllable of his name, filling each one with scorn. "And then that's all. Two full pages on an article about you, and all you say is that we fight and I can't cook. Tell me truthfully how that's helping our relationship." She holds up the magazine to him, folded open to his interview.

"Give me the magazine," orders Chad, shaking his head ruefully and skimming over the interview.

"Chad, don't even bother," Sonny advises, her hands on her hips defiantly. "I combed the entire two pages three times."

"Too bad there are three pages," Chad comments wryly, turning the page slowly. Sonny blinks rapidly a few times, surprised.

"There's...another page?" Her hands fall limp to her sides as she steps forward to peer over the edge of the magazine, which Chad pulls away from her, obscuring it from her view. "But it ended with 'And all I can say about that is...Chad Dylan Cooper is the greatest actor of our generation'! There's more after that?"

"Yup. Hang on, let me find...ah. _'Yet even with all the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and the pressures of being a star, Chad Dylan Cooper finds time to spend with his girlfriend, Sonny Munroe. Says Chad of Sonny, 'I'm absolutely crazy about this girl. We have our ups and downs, like any couple does, but the difference is that at the end of the day, there's no one else that I'm thinking about. It's the same person in my head when I wake up. Sonny is...everything I could ever ask for. She's my Sonny.' The dynamic duo, who went on their first date four years ago, is clearly still going strong.'_" Chad lifts his eyes from the page, the corner of his mouth quirking up and his eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I'm..." begins Sonny, feeling somewhat abashed. "I'm sorry, Chad. I shouldn't have yelled at you. That was really sweet of you to say."

"It's okay. I kind of enjoyed it. It was just like old times." Chad chuckles, closing the magazine and rolling it up in his hand, wrapping his arm around Sonny's shoulders.

"Old times, of course." She grins up at him, her fury completely evaporated. "Because we never fight anymore."

"Never," assures Chad, smirking as always. Sonny leans her head on his shoulder momentarily before standing up on her tiptoes and kissing him lightly.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Chad says with a smile, lifting her up ever so slightly and kissing her more passionately before spinning her around once.

"Chad! Put me down." Sonny laughs when she pulls away, beaming. "Let's go out tonight."

"Sure, sunshine. Let me just get my coat." Chad quickly walks over to his room, where he grabs his leather jacket and tosses the magazine into the trash can. Sonny really doesn't need to find it.

Especially since the interview was only two pages long anyway.

* * *

_"Love - a wildly misunderstood (although highly desirable) malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise, and the lips to pucker." -Anonymous_

"Um...okay. Here goes." Chad looks into the mirror mounted in the hallway of his apartment, taking a deep breath. "Tonight is the night. You've got this, Chad. Okay."

He twitches his shoulders anxiously, adjusting his suit jacket and opening the velvet box in his hand to display a sparkling diamond engagement ring. "Um, Sonny?"

He stops again, shaking his head in disgust at himself. "No, no, that's not right. Come on, Chad, you've got this. Be tough!"

He growls at his reflection, attempting to bring out that male aggression and confidence. "Okay. Sonny! Marry me!" he commands, shaking the black box at the mirror before hanging his head in defeat.

"This is not working."

"What's not working?" Sonny asks, closing the door behind her as she enters his apartment, smiling brightly and holding out her arms.

"Um...this shirt doesn't look right with this jacket," Chad improvises as he greets her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, snapping the box shut with an audible click behind her back. "Just let me go and change..."

"Don't be silly, you look great, Chad!" protests Sonny, laughing at how self-conscious he is and looking him up and down (he pretends to clasp his hands behind his back, fingering the box anxiously.

"Thank you, Sonny, I'm glad you think so," he manages to say coherently, unable to keep from bouncing on the balls of his feet a bit. "But I really think I ought to - "

" - tell me what you're hiding behind your back?" Sonny grins, laughing at the stricken look on Chad's face. "You didn't actually think I hadn't noticed, did you? Come on, tell me what's up." She reaches for his hidden hands, much too fast for him to react.

"Sonny!" He lunges in vain to retrieve the box, which she easily slips out of his grasp and pulls up to her eyes for a better look.

"Now, what could this - " begins Sonny, opening up the box to reveal its precious contents. "Oh my gosh."

"Um...I guess this is...as good a time as any," Chad mutters to himself, carefully taking back the box and kneeling to the ground.

"Chad." Sonny's eyes are already beginning to glisten, her hands covering her mouth.

"No, no, I - um, just...just let me try and do this right," Chad forces out, in a voice so anxious that he would have laughed at himself, had he been a spectator rather than a participant.

Sonny nods wordlessly, a flush beginning to spread across her face and her heart pounding faster.

"Um...I love you, Sonny. I can't imagine my life without you, because you ARE my life. I - I want to look into your big brown eyes and show everyone just how much of a fool I am for eternity." Chad cleared his throat awkwardly after his heartfelt speech, reaching for Sonny's hand. "So, uh...will you marry me, Sonny?"

And the way she shuts her eyes, letting a few tears escape as she nods fervently, too overcome with emotion to speak, causes Chad to grin as widely as he ever has, quickly getting to his feet and hungrily meeting her lips with his own.

Highly desirable indeed.

* * *

_"Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever." -Anonymous_

"Wow," breathes Chad softly, unable to entirely contain his appreciation of the breathtaking sight before him. Sonny blushes, her eyelids fluttering to focus on the floor momentarily before returning their gaze to his, smiling.

"She's beautiful," adds Nico with a grin from next to Chad, his hands automatically slipping into his pockets as he nods at his former castmate making her way down the aisle.

"Yeah, she is," Chad murmurs out of the corner of his mouth, stepping forward and holding out a hand to the blushing vision in white, who steps forward with a nervous smile.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

"You look beautiful," Chad subtly mouths to his bride, squeezing her hand gently.

"Thanks," Sonny whispers back, her voice barely carrying.

They stand there together, with their hands clasped at the front of the church, glancing at one another and trading half-smiles of anxiety and anticipation. Neither one pays much attention to the words filling their ears until the question comes.

"Do you, Chad Dylan Cooper, take Sonny Munroe to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, 'til death do you part?"

Chad's gaze turns to Sonny, watching her as she looks up at him and bites her lip nervously.

"I do," he tells her with conviction, his voice steady and purposeful.

"And do you, Sonny Munroe, take Chad Dylan Cooper to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, 'till death do you part?"

Sonny faces the priest, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears of joy as she tightens her grip on Chad's hand.

"I do."

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Without any hesitation, Chad sweeps Sonny into his arms, his lips meeting hers in a picture perfect kiss.

"I love you," he tells her the second he sets her back down on the ground, the white train of her dress rippling as he does so.

"I love you too." She grins up at him, all traces of anxiety erased and the chocolate eyes he loves so well laughing, and Chad can't help but bend down and kiss her chastely one more time for good measure.

"Good," he says when he pulls away, a smirk beginning to form.

"Good," Sonny retaliates automatically before both of them dissolve into laughter.

"So we're good?" asks Chad, holding out his arm to his wife like a gentleman. She accepts it with a smile.

"Oh, we are so good."

And they walk back down the aisle together, beaming all the way.

* * *

_"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle." -Anonymous_

"Sonny?" She turns her head to look at him, still bouncing the child with matching brown ringlets perched on her lap.

"Yes, Chad?" He smiles lovingly at little Ellie at first, before lifting his gaze to the proud grandmother. The corner of his mouth quirks up just like it always has, both faintly amused and affectionate, before remembering his reason for calling her name.

"Why does my hair have to change?" Chad rakes an anxious hand through his once-blond hair now clearly streaked with white, a sign of how much has changed since fifty years ago.

"Because you're old, Grampa," states Ellie matter-of-factly before Sonny can stop her. Chad's jaw drops in indignation, insulted immediately before recalling that this is his dear grandchild, who is only five years old and therefore doesn't know anything about age. His wife, on the other hand, begins to laugh wholeheartedly, far more tickled by the idea than Chad thinks she ought to be.

"It's not funny, Sonny!" he chastises in mock anger, setting aside his newspaper and standing up.

"Grampa made a rhyme!" Ellie begins to giggle as well, childish, high-pitched laughter that's so contagious, Chad can't help but join in. He ends up sitting back down on the couch, next to Sonny and taking Ellie in his arms.

"You silly, silly girl," he chastises, chuckling as he does so. "Grampa is _not_ old. You remember that, alright, sweetie?" The little girl nods solemnly, her chocolate eyes wide as she looks up into Chad's, the one feature of his that he knows will always stay in pristine condition.

"Are you trying to brainwash our dear Ellie, Chad?" Sonny's wry smile seems to be holding back more giggles, and Chad leans over to press a kiss to them.

"Of course, sunshine. Then she can be as easy for me to manipulate as her grandmother." As expected, she smacks him on the arm, grinning widely, before returning the kiss.

"I love you," she murmurs softly, and he gazes back with the same stars in his eyes that have been there for as long as she's known him.

"I love you too." Chad smiles, bending his head down to kiss her chastely once more.

"Ew!" exclaims Ellie, watching in a fascinated yet disturbed way from Chad's knee. "Old people aren't supposed to kiss!"

Whereupon her two grandparents tickle her into submission, all three of them filling the afternoon with the sounds of carefree laughter.

* * *

_"Some love lasts a lifetime. True love lasts forever." –Anonymous_

"Are you scared?" Chad bites his lip, concerned for his wife's safety.

"No," Sonny answers simply before considering it. "Surprisingly. I just know that it will be fine."

"I hope so." Chad places his hand over hers on the pristine bed, his fingers interlacing with hers. "I'll miss you, sunshine."

"I won't," responds Sonny with a grin, startling Chad.

"What?"

"I'll see you there, of course." Chad's eyebrows rise, making Sonny laugh. "Chad, we've been together for eighty years. Do you really think a silly thing like death is going to keep us apart?"

"It's not just death, it's also the fact that you have health issues and I don't," corrects Chad, a smirk automatically growing on his face. "I told you you should have worked out more."

"Hey, I'd rather eat a thousand Wisconsin cheeseballs than be like anyone else in Hollywood and starve myself," Sonny defends herself, grinning. "Besides, I had a pretty good life."

"Up until the heart attack." Chad bends over and kisses her on the forehead, the gravity of the situation returning to him.

"Chad, look at me." She lifts up her right hand and caresses the side of his face, seeing in his eyes all the love she could ever want or need. "I love you. I never will stop. You will always be in my heart, even when it stops beating."

Chad swallows roughly, clearing his throat. "I know. I love you forever, Sonny." He presses his lips to hers, causing the machine nearby to beep wildly. "Is something wrong?" Chad pulls away anxiously, worried.

Sonny closes her eyes, ignoring the question and tilting her head to the ceiling.

"Forever," she whispers. Chad's eyes well with tears at the sight.

One slips down his cheek a minute later, when Sonny's fingers relax and her head falls back onto the pillow.

"Forever."

A/N: Okay, so the first thing I want to say is that I know Carma published a story rather like this one, for the same contest. I know it could seem like I stole her idea...I just want to assert that I would never do such a thing. I started my story before I even knew she was writing for the contest, and it is purely coincidental that our stories ended up similar. :P I'm hoping none of you would think that I would even consider plagiarism, but I wanted to double-check. ;) Anyway, this is my last day of summer (sob!), so my stories will be more sporadic from now on. ;) I'm also considering leaving SWAC FF at the moment, so that is part of it. :P I promise I will let you know before I do leave, though. I love you all too much not to. XD Anyway, please review. :D It'll be good luck for school tomorrow. xP Thank you!

P.S. Carma, you're...amazing. ;) I don't even know how else to say it. :P Love you, Carma!


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